TechStars Outshines Y-Combinator As The Top Startup Accelerator Program In The US

When you mention startups, funding, mentoring and networking are the most essential ingredients needed by each aspiring founder. There are great ideas waiting to be put into practicality and the only thing that keeps them from shooting from their roots has been the absence of incubators and accelerator programs. Things have been changing and a number of startup accelerator programs and incubators have surfaced, this is where ideas are carved into reality, founders are provided guidance, the essential tips to direct them towards success and the ever needed funding.

The problem is the more these incubators spring up, the more difficult it gets for entrepreneurs to select which one to spend their time and efforts on. Not that any incubator is bad, but there are things like the how many ideas actually make it out? Where is it easier to get the right mentors or the right amount of funding. Aziz Gilani of DFJ Mercury in collaboration with Tech Cocktail and Kellogg School of Management released a research study that ranks the top accelerator programs in the US. There isn’t much detail shared in connection to the research conducted but the overall result puts TechStars Boulder slightly ahead of the Y Combinator at number 1. The top incubators in the US can be seen below.

As already said, not much has been shared in connection to the methodology and the reasons that have helped rank these incubators. But from what I can make out from the post at Tech Cocktail it was based on 3 categories:

Qualified Financing Events – with 25% weight. This highlights the companies that received funding upon completion of the program.

Companies making out of the incubator – with 50% weight.

Accelerator program statistics – with 25%. This caters to the equity accelerator programs take, money received by startups.

The larger trend to note here is that accelerator programs like these are here to stay and not only that, but they play a major role in defining the success of the startups we see these days. Quite a few Nordic and Baltic companies have also applied to these so it's worth mentioning how the public at large rates these programs.